Amazon creating 1,000 jobs at Dublin headquarters

Amazonâ€™s decision to create 1,000 jobs in Dublin over the next two years is a significant boost to Irelandâ€™s goal of becoming the tech capital of Europe, the taoiseach has said.

The online retailer, based in Seattle, will increase its workforce in Ireland to 3,500 as it continues to expand, with many of the jobs created in Amazon Web Services (AWS), the companyâ€™s fast-growing cloud computing unit. It has begun hiring for positions including data centre engineers, security specialists and technical management.

Leo Varadkar welcomed the announcement of the countryâ€™s biggest jobs boost to date this year, as AWS officially opened its new headquarters on Burlington Road in Dublin. Mr Varadkar said: â€œThis is excellent news for Dublin. By opening this building and announcing 1,000 jobs you are helping us meet our ambition of making Dublin the tech capital of Europe.

These are well paid, high-quality jobs, in four locations across Dublin, meaning this announcement will bring tangible benefits right across the city. â€œThe creation of these new jobs and the companyâ€™s commitment to investing in research and innovation here is fundamental to maintaining Irelandâ€™s reputation as tech hub for Europe.

It is also testament to Irelandâ€™s reputation as a location for top talent and I would like to congratulate and pay tribute to the existing staff and management at Amazon in Ireland who have allowed the company to go from strength to strength here over the last 14 years.â€

Mike Beary, country manager for AWS Ireland, said that there was an â€œabundance of talentâ€ in Ireland that had helped it grow faster than anticipated. He said: â€œThe countryâ€™s creative culture and diverse pool of technical skills make it an ideal location for our rapidly expanding business.â€

Amazon opened its first office in Ireland in September 2004 and expanded two years later with the opening of a customer service centre in Cork.

Martin Shanahan, chief executive of IDA Ireland, the state inward investment agency, said that yesterdayâ€™s announcement would continue Amazonâ€™s â€œlong history of success in Irelandâ€. He added: â€œTech talent and investment are fundamental to our countryâ€™s continued growth and companies like Amazon are bringing even more energy, vision, innovation â€” and good jobs â€” to Ireland.â€

The IDA said last week that it had attracted 139 investments in the first six months of the year â€“ compared with 114 in the first half of 2017 â€“ not including Amazonâ€™s announcement.

The state agency expects that the investments will lead to the creation of more than 11,300 jobs as companies introduce their plans over the coming months and years. The figure for the same period last year was 11,000.

Heather Humphreys, the business minister, said that Amazonâ€™s expansion would â€œhelp us to power the Irish digital economy into the futureâ€.

â€œThis investment supports the notion that Ireland continues to be a sustainable international destination for tech infrastructure,â€ she said. â€œWe are very pleased to have Amazon here and look forward to tracking their ongoing success in the years to come.â€

AWSâ€™s new headquarters, which spans 170,000 sq ft in Dublin city centre, can accommodate up to 1,400 employees.